Participle Formation and Traslation
Participle Formation and Translation in Greek ' Participles are verbal adjectives. They are common in Greek, and extremely versatile. Greek participles can contain a great deal more meaning than they might in their literal English translation. Below we explain the formation of the participles for the tenses and voices in which they may be formed. Like other nouns, they agree in gender, number, and case with the word that they modify. They have the additional qualities of tense and voice to show verbal meaning, and they can take direct and indirect objects. Following the presenation of the formation participles, we will discuss how they can be translated. '''Present Active ' 'Formation ' The present active participle is formed in the masculine and neuter by adding -nt- to the present stem and adding second declension adjectival endings. The feminine present active participle is formed by adding -ous- to the present active stem and declining as a first declension word. '''e.g. 'filew 'I love' ' Take special note of the masculine and neuter dative plural participle. It is formed the same way as the others, but the --ντ--- is eliminated due to compensatory lengthening. Present Mediopassive ''' The present mediopassive participle is formed by adding –μεν—to the present active stem and declines using 1st and 2nd declension endings. '''e.g. 'filew 'I love' ' ' ' Future Active' ' The future active participle is formed by adding -οnt- to the future active stem in the masculine, and -ous- in the feminine. It declines as a third declension adjective in the masculine and neuter, and as a first declension adjective in the feminine. ' ' e.g. 'filew 'I love' ' ' ' Future Middle ''' The future middle participle is formed by adding --ομεν-- to the future active stem and it declines using 1st and 2nd declension adjectival endings. '''e.g. 'filew 'I love' ' ' ' 'Future Passive ' The future passive participle is formed by adding an –ομεν-- infix to the future passive stem and declines using 1st and 2nd declension adjectival endings. ' ' 'Aorist Active ' The aorist active participle is formed in the masculine and neuter by adding –ντ/ασ—to the aorist active stem and declines using 3rd declension endings. The feminine aorist active participle is formed by adding – ασ—to the aorist active stem an declining with 1st decension endings. ' ' 'Aorist Middle ' The aorist middle participle is formed by adding –αμεν—to the aorist active stem and declining with 1st and 2nd declension endings. ' ' 'Aorist Passive ' The aorist passive participle is formed in the masculine and neuter by adding –εις/εντ—to the aorist passive stem and declines with 3rd declension endings. The feminine is formed by adding --εισ—to the aorist passive stem and declines with 1st declension endings. ' ' 'Translation ' Participles can be translated in several ways, following the pattern set up by the word --φιλουσα --- above. If it is in attributive position (between the article and the noun it modifies) it may be translated as “the loving woman” or “the woman who loves.” Depending on the context, it may also be translated as a subordinate clause—whether temporal, conditional, causal, purpose, or concessive.